BANCROFT 
LIBRARY 

<» 

THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 


IE1   R  I  O  A. 


/recrtman'.si  :-U 

MATTIIKW    BIBfPSON,     I'KKXII.KNT. 

K    Sill  I'll  i:UD,  SECRETART. 


O.  C.  WHEELER,  General  Agent 
SAN  FRANCISCO,  GAL. 


DOCUMENT  No.  1. 


THE  WORK  OUTLINED. 


LETTER   OF   JACOB   R.   SHIPHERD,   SECRETARY,  TO 

O.  C.  WHEELER,  GENERAL  AGENT  OF  THE 

PACIFIC   DEPARTMENT. 


" By  some  its  work  may  be  thought  the  humblest  of  all ;  but  I,  believing  that 
the  poor  are  GocTs  especial  care,  venture  to  call  it  the  noblest  of  all." 

CHIEF  JUSTICE  CHASE. 


[EDITORS,  RECEIVING  A  COPY  OF  THIS  DOCUMENT,  ARE  RESPECTFULLY  REQUESTED 

TO    PUBLISH    THE    SUBSTANCE    IN    THEIR    COLUMNS.       OTHERS    FAVORABLE 

TO    THE    CAUSE    OF    THE     FREEDMAN    ARE    REQUESTED    TO    READ 

AND    CIRCULATE    AS    THOROUGHLY    AS    IS    POSSIBLE.] 

*»KA11  communications  pertaining  to  the  Freedmen's  work  in  the  States  and  Ter- 
ritories of  the  Pacific  Coast,  should  be  addressed  to 

O.  C.   WHEELER,  General  Agent, 

San  Francisco,  Cal. 


SEE    INSIDE    OF    COVER. 


SAN    FRANCISCO: 

MKRCIAL  STEAM  TRESSES:    FRANCIS,  VALENTINE  &  CO. 
1  80S. 


By  reference  to  the  following  pages  the  reader  will  learn  the  outline 
of  the  great  national  work  now  in  progress  on  behalf  of  the  Freedmen. 

On  the  3d  and  4th  pages  of  the  cover,  will  be  found  the  titles  and 
names  of  officers  of  the  several  organizations  now  consolidated  us, 

the 

AMERICAN   FREEDMEN'S   AID    COMMISSION. 

The  general  Agency  for  the  States  and  Territories  west  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  is  established  at  240  Montgomery  Street,  San  Francisco, 
CaL,  where  all  friends  of  the  Freedmen  are  invited  to  call,  obtain  pub- 
lications, and  interchange  views  and  information. 

All  remittances  from  this  coast  will  be  duly  receipted  for  by  the  General 
.         .        -.  ^  -i   _i  _.*i j   ~e  nnf^   ™,vntk   tri  t.liA  Treasurer  in 


an 


sti 
di 


mzation 

this  in- 
Agent " 

>romptly 
i,  is  ear- 


nestly solicited. 

All  communications  bearing  upon  this  work,  should  be  addressed 


O.    C.    WHEELER, 

Qenerol  Agent  Am.  Freedmen's  Aid   Commission, 

San  Francisco. 


vefem     -A  v-eed£  VA  €v>  s 


co  K>O  k-y-i  / «,  S  i  o  io  ,      ratA-pe. 
«*• 


THE  WORK  OUTLINED. 


Letter  of  Jacob  R.  Shipherd,  Sec'y,  to  0,  C,  Wheeler,  Gen'l  Agent  Pacific  Dep't. 


AMERICAN  FREEDMEN'S  AID  COMMISSIOIST,          } 
SECRETARY'S  OFFICE,  WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  Oct.  24, 1865.  [ 

KEY.  O.  C.  WHEELER, 

240  Montgomery  Street,  San  Francisco : 
MY  DEAR  SIR  : — I  telegraphed  you  from  Philadelphia,  on 
Friday,  the  13th  inst. : 

"You  are  elected  General  Agent  of  the  American  Freedmen's  Aid 
Commission  for  the  Pacific  Coast.  Organize  the  entire  territory  at  once, 
and  report  to  me  at  Washington.  Particulars  by  mail." 

Last  evening,  I  received  your  reply : 

"  If  'particulars'  are  satisfactory,  I  shall  accept  with  entire  devotion." 

Dr.  Parrish  having  shown  me  your  note  to  him,  I  infer  from 
it  that  the  "particulars,"  concerning  which  you  will  be  primarily 
interested,  are  those  which  pertain  to  the  form  of  the  organiza- 
tion, and  that  you  will  be  especially  gratified  with  assurances 
of  NATIONALITY  and  CATHOLICITY.  Upon  these  points,  you  will 
be  most  satisfactorily  informed,  I  think,  by  perusing  with  some 
care  the  pamphlet  and  circular  enclosed  with  this,  additional 
copies  of  each  of  which  are  addressed  to  you  by  the  post 
which  takes  this. 

All  the  distinctive  Freedmen's  Aid  Societies  in  the  country  ? 
so  far  as  I  am  aware,  are  included  in  this  organization,  and  the 
co-operation  of  ecclesiastical  organizations  operating  among  the 

E  I*  6" 


freed-people  has  been  cordially  invited.  You  will  observe>that 
the  Board  of  Commissioners  includes  persons  of  all  denomina- 
tions of  religious  faith,  together  with  those  who  bring  such 
simple  credentials  as  the  Good  Samaritan  brought  to  his  bene- 
ficiary. In  the  temper  of  the  Master,  as  we  trust,  we  have 
joined  hands  for  a  Good  Samaritan  work. 

The  churches,  if  they  are  sensitive,  however,  may  be  invited 
to  observe  that  this  is  not  an  organization  outside  of  ecclesias. 
tical  limits  by  any  means.  A  bishop*  of  an  eminently  orthodox 
denomination  is  at  the  head  of  the  Commission ;  the  Secretary 
is  a  clergyman  of  another  denomination  equally  "  sound ;"  the 
Secretary  of  the  Western  Department  likewise,  and  a  very  large 
proportion  of  the  Board  throughout.  At  the  same  time,  the 
First  Vice  President,  the  Secretary  of  the  Eastern  Department, 
the  Treasurer,  and  several  members  of  the  Board  of  Managers, 
and  a  considerable  ratio  of  the  members  of  the  Commission, 
are  distinguished  representatives  of  "  liberal "  theological 
tenets,  connected  with  shining  records  of  friendship  for  the 
slave.  The  Commission  is,  therefore,  precisely  what  it  claims 
to  be — catholic  in  the  best  sense,  as  distinguished  at  once  from 
the  ecclesiastical  on  the  one  hand,  and  from  the  irreligious  on 
the  other. 

The  managers  propose  in  manly  fairness  to  administer  the 
contributions  of  the  benevolent,  entrusted  to  them,  with  the 
strictest  regard  to  the  known  wishes  of  the  donors.  If  the 
churches  shall  place  less  or  more  at  our  disposal,  their  gifts 
shall  be  used  for  the  maintenance  of  Christian  teachers  and  la- 
borers ;  and  if  others,  chiefly  desirous  that  physical  suffering 
may  be  abated,  and  that  sound  learning  may  be  diffused,  shall 
contribute  to  our  treasury,  their  desires  shall  be  fulfilled. 

Our  work  is  as  broad  as  the  country,  and  as  varied  as  the 
needs  of  the  people  we  have  undertaken  to  aid.  They  are  first 
physically  destitute,  having  lost  everything  in  the  war,  and 
need  immediate  relief.  Then,  as  we  have  no  idea  of  aiding 
them  indefinitely,  steps  are  to  be  taken  to  put  them  in  the  way 
of  earning  their  own  support.  In  this,  we  are  largely  aided 

*  Kev.  Matthew  Simpson,  D.  D.,  Bishop  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 


by  the  Bureau  of  Freedmen's  Affairs,  of  which  Major-General 
Howard  is  the  noble  head.  This  bureau,  being  located  in  the 
War  Department,  is  chiefly  officered  from  the  army,  and  is  able 
to  administer  its  affairs  with  the  simplicity  and  effect  of  army 
discipline.  The  former  masters  are  invited  to  employ  their 
former  slaves  as  freemen,  upon  equitable  terms,  to  be  agreed  to 
and  subscribed  by  both  parties,  under  the  regulations  of  the 
Bureau  and  in  the  presence  of  its  officers.  Those  who  accept 
this  invitation,  and  endeavor  in  fairness  to  fulfill  the  agreements 
entered  into,  enjoy  the  substantial  favor  of  military  patronage 
and  protection ;  those  who  are  perverse  are  summarily  dealt 
with. 

The  Commission  co-operates  with  the  Bureau  at  this  stage  as 
voluntary  associations  usually  co-operate  with  the  officers  of 
Government,  by  acting  directly  upon  public,  sentiment,  espe- 
cially endeavoring  to  enlighten  the  freed-people  as  to  their  true 
interest  and  their  supreme  duty.  And  here,  when  the  educa- 
tional work  may  be  said  to  begin,  it  begins  to  continue  through 
every  form  of  endeavor  that  succeeds.  The  orphan  children 
(and  half  orphans,  whose  only  parent  is  in  the  Army  of  the 
Union),  of  whom  there  are,  not  strangely,  scores  of  thousands, 
are  gathered  into  asylums,  and  made  the  objects  of  the  best 
Christian  care.  They  are  taught  to  be  cleanly,  in  the  most 
practical  manner;  to  be  truthful,  prayerful,  honorable,  Chris- 
tian ;  taught  industrial  handicraft,  letters,  and  the  rudiments  of 
a  generous  education,  and  fitted  to  be  introduced,  as  they  ar- 
rive at  the  proper  age,  into  families,  where  they  shall  be 
treated,  no  longer  as  servants,  but  as  friends,  and  even  as  chil- 
dren. 

^^~- "—" •'        ""  " 

For  the  much  larger  number  of  children  ^w?fcrWave 
with  their  own  parents  or  responsible  relations,  the  SCHOOL — 
the  true  New  England  school — is  provided,  in  the  faith  that 
what  it  has  done  for  New  England  and  the  great  North  and 
West,  it  is  able  to  do  for  the  South. 

For  the  adults,  who,  like  the  children,  are  exceedingly  eager 
to  learn,  night  and  Sabbath  schools  are  provided;  and  for 
women  and  large  girls,  industrial  schools,  where  they  are 


taught  sewing  and  general  housewifery.  The  eagerness  with 
which  all,  classes  receive  instruction  is  almost,  if  not  altogether, 
without  precedent.  Their  progress  is  proportionately  rapid, 
and  distances  the  records  of  the  best  white  schools  with  which 
I  have  ever  been  acquainted.  Volumes  of  authentic  represent- 
ative anecdotes  might  be  compiled  already  from  the  observa- 
tions of  the  laborers  who  have  been  hitherto  in  the  field. 
Children  of  a  dozen  years  have  mastered  the  entire  alphabet  in 
a  single  day;  field  hands,  stiff-fingered  and  gray-headed,  have 
learned  to  write  readily  in  six  weeks;  whole  classes  have  been 
carried  from  the  beginning  of  the  alphabet  to  the  end  of  the 
First  Reader  in  three  months;  and  youngsters  of  seven  and 
eight  years  are  found,  within  fifteen  months,  reading  rhetori- 
cally in  Fifth  Readers,  and  reciting  geography,  grammar,  and 
mental  arithmetic. 

The  Lincoln  School  in  New  Orleans,  which  I  visited  in  March 
last,  under  the  guidance  of  a  personal  friend,  who  organized  its 
first  class  but  fourteen  months  before,  and  had  seen  it  grow  to 
a  graded  membership  of  over  seven  hundred,  afforded  extem- 
pore exercises  in  reading,  writing,  composition,  declamation, 
grammar,  mathematics,  and  geography,  which  I  have  rarely 
seen  equaled ;  and  a  neighboring  school  sustained  an  examina- 
tion upon  geographical  outline  maps,  conducted  by  a  visitor,  a 
lady  who  has  for  twenty  years  taught  in  the  best  schools  in  the 
country,  which  surpassed,  in  her  judgment,  as  in  my  own,  any- 
thing of  the  kind  we  had  ever  witnessed.  Without  delaying 
to  speculate  upon  these  phenomena,  and  deferring  to  those  who 
have  leisure,  reflections  and  predictions,  it  is  enough  for  us  that 
CHRISTIAN  EDUCATION  in  the  broad  sense  above  indicated  is  the 
great  need  and  chief  desire  of  this  long  down-trodden  race. 

Not  that  they  may  receive  factitious  elevation  to  certain 
specified  dignities  of  citizenship,  in  the  political  interpretation 
of  the  term,  but  that  they  may  be  aided  to  become  FIT  for  the 
birthright  which  at  length  they  inherit — is  their  need,  their 
desire,  and  our  purpose. 

From  the  general  statements  above  outlined,  I  think  you 
will  gather  the  drift  of  the  events  which  concern  our  work 


clearly  enough  to  enable  you  to  enter  upon  your  duties ;  and 
subsequent  correspondence  will  supplement  the  outline,  as  may 
be  necessary  or  desirable.  The  expenditures  of  the  various 
associations,  heretofore  independent,  but  now  united  in  a  single 
body,  were,  in  the  aggregate,  last  year,  about  $500,000.  The 
estimates  for  the  year  to  come  are  substantially  these : 

The  cost  of  a  female  teacher  averages  about  $600  per  year ; 

or,  say  wages,  ten  months,  at  $25 $250 

Travel,  round  trip 100 

Board,  ten  months,  at  $25 250 

Total $600 

There  should  be  added  for  school  books  for  teacher 100 

Total $700 

Not  less  than  two  thousand  (2,000)  teachers  should  be  in 
the  field  this  winter — should  be  at  work  to-day  in  localities 
swarming  with  eager  pupils.  Not  less  than  one  hundred  (100) 
orphan  houses,  providing  for  one  hundred  children  each,  should 
be  in  operation.  And  generous  supplies  of  clothing  for  the 
thousands  who  have  been  robbed  of  everything,  driven  from 
their  industrial  endeavors,  and  absolutely  compelled  to  be  des- 
titute, as  well  as  clothing  for  the  inmates  of  the  orphan  houses, 
and  for  the  aged  and  infirm,  together  with  wholesome  diet  for 
the  hospitals,  should  be  provided. 

The  aggregate  estimates  upon  the  foregoing  data  will  foot 
up  thus : 

Two  thousand  teachers,  at  $600   $1,200,000 

School  books 200,000 

School  furniture  and  buildings,  say 100,000 

One  hundred  orphan  houses  (if  Government  continues 
supplies  of  rations),  at  $250  per  month  each,  twelve 

months 300,000 

Clothing  and  hospital  supplies 300,000 

Superintendents  and  incidental  expenses 100,000 

Total $2,200.000 

That  this  estimate  must  be  moderate,  any  one  will  be  con- 
vinced when  he  remembers  that  there  are  four  millions  of  ben- 


6 

eficiaries,  and  this  estimate  asks  55  cents  only  for  each  of 
them !  The  Bureau  will  provide  school  buildings  for  the  Com- 
mission where  buildings  are  to  be  had,  as  well  as  houses  for 
the  asylums,  but  aid  of  this  sort  is  very  uncertain,  and  cannot 
in  any  event  long  continue.  We  may  lean  on  it  for  the  next 
three  months  perhaps,  but  with  no  considerable  confidence, 
even  for  so  long. 

The  privilege  of  purchasing  rations  also  is  accorded  for  the 
present,  but  the  commissariat  is  rapidly  disappearing.  The 
estimates  for  the  orphan  houses  assume  that  rations  will,  as 
heretofore,  be  given  for  these  little  dependents,  but  when  the 
commissary  is  no  more,  whence  can  the  rations  be  drawn  ?  A 
supplementary  budget  must  therefore  be  made  up,  and,  within 
the  narrowest  limits,  will  reach  such  figures  as  these : 

One  thousand  school  houses,  at  $1,000  each $1,000,000 

One  hundred  orphan  houses,  at  $10,000  each 1,000,000 

Rations  to  ten  thousand  orphans,  at  $5  per  month  each, 

twelve  months 600,000 


Total $2,600,000 

Add  first  estimate 2,200,000 


Total $4,800,000 

And  yet,  even  now,  the  rate  is  only  one  dollar  and  twenty 
cents  ($1  20)  for  each  freed  person. 

Dr.  Bellows,  in  his  address  at  the  late  public  meeting  at 
Philadelphia,  said  that  he  should  be  ashamed  of  the  Commis- 
sion if  it  did  not  raise  five  millions  of  dollars  ($5,000,000) 
this  year.  But  you  know,  as  well  as  we,  how  much  easier  it 
is  to  need  money  than  to  get  it.  While  our  needs,  in  the  most 
modest  form,  foot  up  so  large  an  aggregate,  and  while  we  can- 
not do  less  than  set  them  frankly  forth,  we  shall  necessarily  be 
content  with  the  lest  we  can  get.  Now  that  the  war  is  done, 
there  remains  no  one  work  so  eminently  patriotic,  national, 
catholic  and  Christian,  as  the  generous  welcoming  of  this  bleed- 
ing race — the  most  sorely  tried,  cruelly  wronged,  and  yet  ab- 
solutely loyal  class  in  the  Union — to  a  Christian  civilization. 
Nor  will  the  need  be  long,  if  the  first  response  is  generous. 


Five  millions  of  dollars,  or  even"  the  half  of  it,  placed  in  our 
treasury  within  twelve  months,  would  do  all  the  heaviest  of 
the  work.  For  as  rapidly  as  the  people  become  able  to  earn 
their  own  way,  they  are  anxious  to  assume  a  proportion  of  the 
expenses  of  the  schools,  and  will  at  no  distant  day  assume 
them  all. 

For  about  three  years,  if  we  have  good  success,  they  will 
need  our  aid ;  then  we  may  return  to  our  ordinary  affairs  with 
the  reward  of  a  good  conscience  and  the  perpetual  revenue  of 
the  prayers  and  benedictions  of  a  nation  lifted  and  saved,  at  a 
cost  not  greater  than  the  expense  of  the  army  of  the  Union 
for  a  single  week. 

The  General  Treasury  is  entirely  dependent  upon  remit- 
tances from  your  field,  and  from  Europe,  for  its  resources  at 
present,  it  being  a  part  of  the  compact  considered  prudent  in 
the  confederation,  that  the  associations  heretofore  independent, 
and  now  becoming  branches,  should,  for  a  while  at  least,  col- 
lect and  disburse  their  funds  essentially  as  heretofore. 

The  magnificent  record  of  loyal  California,  shining  like  the 
golden  stream  with  which  she  has  so  generously  replenished 
the  treasuries  of  the  Sanitary  and  Christian  Commissions,  will 
form  a  fitting  introduction  to  the  not  less  generous  response 
with  which  we  are  sure  she  will  gladden  the  poor  and  needy, 
who,  though  least  guilty,  have  nevertheless  borne  the  burden 
of  this  crushing  war. 

Be  good  enough,  upon  receipt  of  this  dispatch,  to  inform 
me,  by  telegraph,  whether  these  "  particulars  "  are  satisfactory. 
My  office  is  located  at  444  Fourteenth  street,  as  indicated  at 
the  head  of  this  letter;  my  residence  is  at  221  Vt.  Avenue. 
Telegrams  to  either  address  will  reach  me. 

I  enclose  you  a  credential  for  such  use  as  may  arise.  Your 
friend,  Dr.  Parrish,  is  at  present  at  work  in  Philadelphia,  rais- 
ing $20,000  for  the  immediate  use  of  the  Pennsylvania  branch. 
It  will  doubtless  be  best  to  organize  a  California  branch  or  a 
Pacific  branch,  for  your  territory  is  as  large  eastward  as  you 
choose  to  make  it — in  the  membership  of  which  may  be  in- 


8 

eluded  a  large  number  of  influential  persons  whose  names  will 
have  weight  with  the  people ;  and  local  auxiliaries  to  this 
branch  should  then  be  formed  in  every  town  and  village.  But 
you  have  been  elected  upon  the  assurance  that  JOMY  forte  was 
organization,  and  efficiency  through  organization,  and  I  will 
not  pursue  this  most  important  theme  beyond  the  bare  sugges- 
tion. 

Very  truly  yours, 

JACOB  R.  SHIPHERD, 

Secretary. 


Organization, 

The  following  are  the  Societies  that  united  at  the  organization  of  the 
new  institution.  Others  have  been  added,  until  now  all  kindred  bodies 
in  the  country,  are  combined  in  the  "  AMERICAN  FREEDMEN'S  AID  COM- 
MI.-SION  "  : 

New  England  Freedmen's  Aid  Society. 
•/<,  February  5,  1862. 

His  KXCEL.  JOHN*  A.  ANDREW,  President. 
Kmvvui)  ATKINSON,  Secretary. 

N.  Y.  National  Freedmen's  Relief  Association. 

Organized  in  New  York,  Ftln-uary  22,  1862.  ^ 

FRANCIS  GEORGE  SHAW,  President. 

.  M.  (iEORGE  HAWKINS,  Cor.  Sec. 

Baltimore  Ass-ciation. 
EVANS  ROGERS,  President. 
JOSEPH  M.  CUSHIXG,  Cor.  Sec. 

Pittsburg  Association. 
DR.  C.  G.  HUSSEY,  President. 
REV.  JOHN  B.  CLARK,  Cor.  Sec. 


Pennsylvania  Freeimea's  Belief  Association. 

Organized  in  Philadelphia.  March  5, 1862. 

STEPHEN  COLWELL,  President. 
DR.  JAMES  E.  RHOADS,  Cor.  Sec. 

Western  Freedmen's  Aid  Commission. 

Organized  in  Cincinnati,  January  19,  1863. 
REV.  ADAM  POE,  D.  D.,  President. 
REV.  J.  M.  WALDEN,  Cor.  Sec. 

North  Western  Freedmen's  Aid  Commission. 

Organized  in  Chicago,  January  1,  1864. 

JOHN  M.  WILSON,  President. 

REV.  J.  R.  SHIPHERD,  Cor.  Sec.  and  Treas. 

Friends  Association,  Philadelphia. 


Constitution  of  the  American  Freedmen's  Aid  Commission, 


ARTICLE  1.  This  organization  shall  be  known  as  the  "  American  Freedmen's  Aid  Commis- 
sion." 

ART.  2.  Its  object  shall  be  to  promote  the  education  and  elevation  of  tho  Freedrnen,  and 
to  co-operate  to  this  end  with  the  Bureau  of  Refugees,  Freedmen,  and  Abandoned  Lands. 

ART.  3.  The  Commission  shall  consist  of  gentlemen  hereinafter  named,  their  associates 
and  successors  ;  and  shall  have  power  to  appoint  and  remove  at  discretion  its  own  officers, 
shall  elect  associates  at  discretion ;  shall  audit  the  accounts  of  its  officers,-  make  necessary 
regulations;  and  be  responsible  for  the  efficiency  and  fidelity  of  its  Agents;  shall  not  permit 
its  number  to  diminish,  but  shall  fill  its  own  vacancies  from  two  or  more  persons  named  by 
the  Department  in  which  the  vacancy  may  occur. 

ART.  4.  The  Commission  shall  comprise  an  Eastern  and  Western  Department;  the  Presi- 
dents and  Corresponding  Secretaries  of  which  shall  be,  ex  offitio,  members  of  the  Commission. 
Each  Department  shall  be  independent  of  the  other  so  far  as  the  collection  of  money  and 
good?,  and  the  selection,  supervision,  and  payment  of  Teachers  and  Agents  may  be  con- 
cerned. These  Departments  shall  be  organized,  in  the  East,  under  the  auspices  of  the  Amer- 
ican Freedmen's  Aid  Union;  and  in  the  West,  under  the  auspices  of  the  united  Western  and 
Northwestern  Freedmeu's  Aid  Commissions. 

ART.  5.  The  officers  of  the  Commission  shall  be,  a  President,  one  or  more  Vice-Presidents, 
a  General  Secretary,  and  an  Associate  Secretary  (one  of  whom  shall  reside  in  Washington), 
and  a  Treasurer. 

ART.  6.  The  Board  of  Managers  shall  consist  of  the  Officers  of  the  Commission,  and  the 
Corresponding  Secretaries  of  the  Departments,  together  with  five  delegates  from  each  De- 
partment: and  it  shall  finally  decide,  subject  to  the  revision  of  the  Commission,  all  questions 
relating  to  tie  general  policy  and  action  of  the  Commission. 

.  T.     Teachers  and  Agents  shall  be  accredited  to  the  name  of  the  AMERICAN  FREED- 
3  AID  COMMISSION;  their  credentials  being  attested  by  the  President  and  one  of  the  Sec- 
retaries, aud  countersigned  by  the  Corresponding  Secretary  of  the  Department  from  which 
they  issue. 

ART.  8.  Each  Department  shall  account  to  the  General  Treasurer  for  all  moneys  received 
and  expended,  and  for  all  goods  received  and  distributed. 


ART.  9.  Contributions  from  Europe,  the  Pacific  Coast,  and  other  common  sources,  shall  go 
into  the  General  Treasury,  unless  otherwise  ordered  by  the  contributors.  Funds  in  the  Gen- 
eral Treasury  shall  be  distributed  by  the  Board  of  Managers  to  the  Departments,  or  otherwise 
applied  for  the  purposes  of  the  Commission.  The  General  Treasurer  shall  make  to  the  Com- 
mission an  Annual  Exhibit  of  all  receipts  and  disbursements. 

ART.  10.  The  General  Secretary  shall  make  an  Annual  Report  to  the  Commission;  which, 
with  the  Annual  Exhibit  of  the  General  Treasurer,  shall  be  published,  under  the  direction  of 
the  Board  of  Managers. 

ART.  11.  The  persons  next  hereinafter  named,  their  associates  an  i  successors,  shall  con- 
stitute the  Commission:  President— MATTHEW  SIMPSON,  Philadelphia;  Firat  Vice- President 
— WM.  LLOYD  GARRISOX,  Boston;  Second  Vice- President — CHARLES  G.  HAMMOND,  Chicago; 

Gen.  Secreta>y, ;  Associate  Secretary — JACOB  R.  SIIIPIIERD,  Washington; 

Treasurer — GEORGE  C.  WARD,  New  York.  John  Parkman,  Thomas  Russell,  Jacob  M.  Man- 
ning, Edward  L.  Pierce,  William  Claffin,  Boston;  John  G.  Whittier,  Amesburg,  Mass.;  Sam- 
uel Coney,  Augusta,  Me.;  Wm.  A.  Buckinghanm.Norwich,  Conn.;  Francis  G.  Shaw,  John 
Jay,  Robert  Haydock.  Henry  Ward  Beecher,  Jtreeph  P.  Thompson,  George  Whipple,  New 
York;  Stephen  Colvvell,  Francis  R  Cope,  J.  E.  Rhoads,  Joseph  Parrish,  John  P.  Crozer, 
Phillips  Brooks,  William  Still,  Philadelphia;  Hugh  L.  Bond,  Archibald  Stirling,  Jr.,  Evans 
Rogers,  William  J.  Albert,  Baltimore;  Sayles  J.  Bowen,  Washington;  C.  G.  Hussy,  John  B. 
Clark,  Wm.  D.  Howard,  Pittsburg;  Levi  Coffin,  Adam  Poe,  D.  H.  Allen.  Bellamy  Storer, 
Cincinnati ;  Calvin  Fletcher,  Indianapolis  ;  J.  S.  Newberry,  L.  F.  Mellon,  Cleveland ;  James 
H.  Fairchild,  Oberlin,  0.;  Daniel  A.  Payne,  Xenia,  0.;  George  Duffield,  Detroit;  Charles  S. 
May,  Kalaruazoo,  Mich.;  R.  W.  Patterson,  W.  W.  Patton,  Grant  Goodrich,  Chicago;  James 
E.  Yeatman,  William  H.  Elliott,  George  Partridge,  T.  M.  Post,  St.  Louis;  William  De  Loss 
Love,  W.  S.  Carter,  Milwaukee:  S.  J.  R.  McMillan,  Saint  Paul;  H.  P.  Coon,  Jesse  T. 
Peck,  San  Francisco;*  Abram  M.  Taylor,  John  P.  Wood,  Charles  T.  Coffin,  Robert  Morrison, 
Society  of  Friends. 

ART.  12.  The  Commission  shall  meet  in  Philadelphia  on  Wednesday,  October  11,  1865, 
aud  thereafter  as  it  shall  determine. 

ART.  13.  This  Constitution  may  be  amended  by  the  Commission  at  any  regularly  called 
meeting,  provided  previous  notice  of  the  changes  proposed  shall  have  accompanied  the  con- 
vening call. 

*  Other  names  from  California,  Oregon  and  Nevada  wiil  be  added. 


iui 

I 


American  Freedmen's   Aid  Commission, 

[From  the  N.  Y.  Independent.] 

The  various  associations  for  the  benefit  of  the  freedmen  ihat  sprang  into  existence  dnrin 
the  progress  of  the  war  have  done  an  incalculable  amount  of  good  ;  but  they  have  hitherto 
pursued  their  objects  without  national  concert,  and  therefore  could  not  reach  the  highest  point 
of  efficiency  in  the  work  to  which  they  were  severally  devoted.  Impressed  with  this  co: 
viction,  representatives  of  these  associations  from  Boston,  New  York,  Philadelphia,  Baltimo 
Cincinnati,  and  Chicago,  met  in  this  city  last  week,  and,  after  careful  deliberation  upon 
the  interests,  local  and  general,  involved  in  the  movement,  organized  a  national  association 
under  the  tide  of  "The  American  Freedmen's  A.id  Commission."  Bishop  Simpson,  of  the  M. 
E.  Church,  was  elected  President,  and  William  Lloyd  Garrison,  1st  Vice- President ;  Frederick 
Law  Olmsted,  late  of  the  Sanitary  Commission,  and  of  all  men  in  the  country  the  one  be4 
qualified  for  the  post,  was  elected  General  Secretary;  Rev.  Jacob  R.  Shipherd,  of  Chicago,  is 
the  Associate  Secretary;  and  Mr.  George  G.  Ward,  an  eminent  banker  of  this  city,  Treasurer. 
These  officers,  with  J.  Miller  McKim,  Secretary  of  the  Eastern  Department  at  New  York, 
and  J.  M.  Walden,  Secretary  of  the  Western  Department  at  Chicago,  constitute  the  Board  of 
Managers  of  the  National  Association.  It  is  understood  that  Mr.  Olmsted  will  reside  in  New 
York,  and  his  associate,  Mr.  Shipherd,  in  Washington.  The  Commission  thus  constituted  ca 
not  fail  to  command  the  confidence  and  co  operation  of  the  friends  of  the  freedmen  in  eve 
part  of  the  country,  and  to  exert  a  powerful  influence  in  behalf  of  the  great  object  for  whic 
it  has  been  organized.  We  commend  it  heartily  to  the  support  of  all  who  desire  to  aid  inp 
tectiug  and  elevating  the  millions  of  emancipated  slaves,  upon  whose  future  condition 
safety  and  welfare  of  the  country  in  a  great  degree  depend. 


